


Recruitment Strategies- Keith (Voltron)

by AlbionAndBeyond



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Keith (Voltron), Asexuality Spectrum, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 13:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17623316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlbionAndBeyond/pseuds/AlbionAndBeyond
Summary: Keith gives advice to someone who needs it.





	Recruitment Strategies- Keith (Voltron)

**Author's Note:**

> This is interesting and I apologize. It also doesn’t have a specific place in the timeline, so I wouldn’t worry too much over it.

He'd been watching her. Them. The two rebel leaders. They led together seamlessly, his decisions complimenting hers in every way. They seemed to have one mind when commanding their rebel fleet, so it was no surprise when they kissed or hugged goodbye in front of the team.

The real surprise was when they weren't in a life or death situation. They would be standing with the team and he'd put his arm around her waist, immediately making her tense. When they were talking or laughing together she was at ease in his arms, but as soon as he quieted down she'd pull away. If it were just them and someone else, she'd make excuses to keep them there, to keep a third person around them. 

It was obvious that the second team leader wasn't a bad guy. He questioned her decisions to hurt the enemy, kept everyone on the morally straight path. He couldn't hurt a fly. When he looked at her, his eyes were full of passion and adoration. When she looked at him, she seemed hesitant and unsure. When they looked each other in the eye, there was trust and deep respect between them, but comfort seemed to be one sided.

Once the attacking Galra fleet was defeated and all ships were safely on the base, the two rushed to each other, embracing tightly. He pulled away slightly and she did as well, looking surprised when he leaned in for a kiss instead of to say "hello" or "I love you" or "I'm so glad you're alright". She leaned in as well, giving a quick peck then pulling away completely, leaving him looking unsatisfied. 

Keith had been watching Trìste. Trìste and Artūr. And he decided it was time to intervene.

-|-|-|-

"We're grateful for all of your help. Thanks to you, we're one step closer to freeing the entire universe from Galra control," Allura said. She stepped forward and pulled Trìste into a hug, Trìste returning it whole-heartedly. 

"If you ever need anything, just call." Trìste stepped back and grabbed Artūr's hand. "We're only a wormhole away."

"Oh, I'll be calling you personally," Pidge stated. "I need to know how you made your wormholing device!"

"Of course!" Trìste laughed, quieting slightly when Artūr's hand rested on her waist again. She glanced at him then back at the team, smiling brightly. "By the sound of things, we'll see each other again soon. Safe travels, paladins." They turned and started to walk out of the hangar while she tensed imperceptibly more with every step.

"Trìste," Keith called. She half turned to look at him, Artūr's arm dropping from her waist. "Can I talk with you before we go?"

"Of course." After giving the man beside her a quick kiss, she followed Keith into the black lion, the other paladins and Artūr looking around at each other.

Hunk cleared his throat, looking to Artūr. "Leader business, I suppose."

"I suppose," he sighed, looking with worry as the lion's mouth shut.

-|-|-|-

"What is it you wanted?" Trìste shifted her weight and looked to the wall that had closed behind them, suddenly uneasy. "Is there something I should know about the Coalition?"

Keith took his normal stance, crossed arms and a casual lean against a wall, and looked at her for a second, studied her face. Her appearance was humanoid with only a few obvious differences, her lack of fingernails and her hair. It changed colors when touched, shifting from a dark blue to a light pink and every gradient in between. She also had two irises around her pupil, the inner a sharp grey and the outer a light brown with golden flecks. This was where his gaze rested when he finally spoke. 

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Alright? Of course it is,” she said with a smile. “We just freed an area of space that’s been tormented by the Galra for centuries, as you’d say. My fleet and I can get back to work, find our next target.”

Keith watched her speak, noticed the determined set of her shoulders. She was someone who knew how to get down to business, who didn’t take any shit. Then why...

“I’m not the best person for this conversation, but I’m the only one who noticed which means it’s my duty to say...” He trailed off, looking at her confused face. “To ask if everything’s good with you and Artūr?”

“I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“You’re a couple, right?”

“Yes,” Trìste said hesitantly. “But we’re leaders of our fleet first. If you think that’s a problem then-“

“No, that’s not what I mean,” Keith interrupted. He choked on his words, trying to arrange them in the way he wanted them. “What I mean is... ugh- Does Artūr hurt you or- Is it a safe relationship?”

“How dare you?!” She whispered in surprised anger. “He’d never raise a hand or say a word against me!”

“Okay, alright, I’m sorry,” Keith apologized, putting out a hand to placate her in some way. “You just seem, I don’t know, a little afraid around him.”

“I’m not afraid of him. I just said he’d never hurt me.” This time her response was strange, a little less sure than the others. What could she be afraid of if not bodily harm? 

Keith realized that she wasn’t lying, or at least not intentionally. He’d watched them train, trained with them, and a constant in all rebel fleets is a lack of proper supplies. Without the proper training gear, those who trained normally removed their sweaty shirts and continued on with their practice. While Artūr had admired Trìste’s form in her tight-fitted undershirt, she had barely spared his toned chest a glance. At one point Trìste had Artūr pinned, causing him to flirt with his girlfriend, saying something along the lines of “hot as hell”. She’d just gotten off him as quickly as possible, mumbling out a “you, too” and taking the defensive again. 

Keith was sure of himself now, he knew it wasn’t fear. If he’d believed in some higher power, he might have thought there was reason he was the only one to notice, because he was the only one who might understand. "You shouldn't keep yourself in a situation where you're uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable," she said, seeming incredibly uncomfortable. "I think you might be mistaken."

"I know what I saw." Keith's tone became a little more aggressive than he intended, and he had to look up at the ceiling to regain his control. Trìste was shocked into silence, watching him as closely as she dared. His eyes drifted to the wall beside her head, deciding to take a leap that could be incredibly wrong or get the conversation where it needed to be.

"You were afraid to even star the relationship, because in the past you and your partner had different ideas of where it was heading. You're afraid to do anything around him in case you give him the wrong idea, because it's happened before. You only hug or kiss him in situations where it can't be perverted, even though you know he'd never hurt you. He compliments you physically more than you'd like, but you can't tell him to stop because you know that's how he shows he loves you. You don't want to be alone with him in case he says anything suggestive, because how can you tell him you don't feel that way about him. You've never felt that way about him, or anyone else for that matter." Keith caught his breath and snapped his eyes to hers.

She shook her head, her edge returning. "I love him more than anything." Her offended tone seemed half-hearted.

"I'm not suggesting that you don't, Trìste." Keith pushed off of the wall and took a step closer to her. "All I'm saying is that if you don't tell him, the situation will get worse."

"I just need more time to be completely comfortable with him," Trìste said, giving up the pretense. 

Keith crossed his arms, not accepting the response. "Do you think it'll change with time?" Trìste stayed quiet, looking at his chest plate instead. Keith nodded, drifting back and leaning against the wall. "I had someone back on Earth for a while, and I told myself the same thing. But eventually I realized I just didn't want that in a relationship. He was amazing, and he tried to understand, but I knew every time he touched me I wasn't what he needed. I wanted to be with him, but I couldn't in the end."

Keith looked at her again and saw a tear run down her cheek. He was taken aback for a second, surprised by her reaction. Then he realized that this was new to her, she was discovering herself now and he'd just told her a horror story. He stepped closer again and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her head to jerk up. "That doesn't mean it'll happen to you. First you need to consult yourself, figure out what you want, and then you need to tell him."

"I'll- I'll think it over." She took a step back, making his arm fall to his side. The Black Lion sensed their want to leave and started to open his mouth. 

Keith reached forward and grabbed her hand. "Do, please." He dropped her hand when they were fully seen by the rest of their teams, aware that they were all quietly waiting. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice so they wouldn't hear. "I don't want someone to go through what I did when I can help them."

Trìste smiled at him before walking from the lion and standing beside her partner again. The strange conversation cleared something in her mind, that maybe what she felt was okay, that maybe she could have the relationship she wanted. Maybe it wasn’t such a strange idea. 

Artūr looked at her closely and noticed her smile as she waved at the paladins. It was the brightest he'd seen from her in phoebes. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and asked, "What did he want?"

"He just shared some recruitment strategies, nothing special." 

Keith hadn't moved from his spot in the lion, and the other paladins were still glancing between the two of them questioningly. "Let's move," he barked, causing the paladins to scurry into their ships. He and Trìste shared a nod before the Black Lion shut him from sight, Artūr noticing bitterly. 

" 'Recruitment strategies'," he sighed.


End file.
